Talib: Pats offer had language that was a “little shaky” compared to Denver’s

Posted by Mike Florio on March 20, 2014, 8:03 PM EST

Getty Images

When assessing the recent assault by Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib on his former team’s injury-reporting habits, it’s important to account for the possibility that he’s a little disgruntled.

And here’s why he could be a little disgruntled. Talib recently told Peter King of TheMMQB.com that the offer made by the Patriots to keep him in New England “had language in there that definitely was a little shaky” in comparison to the offer made by the Broncos.

Talib, who has a history of off-field issues, undoubtedly is referring to devices aimed at protecting the Patriots against another Aaron Hernandez-style situation, with per-game roster bonuses or voided guarantees or any of the other permissible things a team can do to avoid the embarrassment of giving a guy millions and then having him land in, you know, jail.

The Pats simply couldn’t afford another situation to Hernandez. The Broncos, who are going all in with the goal of winning a Super Bowl or two before Peyton Manning retires, have no such concerns. Taking a chance on Talib and having it blow up in their faces would be as bad as not taking a chance and now winning a Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, Talib’s position that he was listed as having a hip injury when he actually had a quad injury conflicts with the reports, originating from sources close to Talib, that he suffered a strained hip flexor. Besides, and as Tom Curran of CSN New England pointed out during Thursday’s PFT Live, the quad and the hip are basically in the same area.

It unclear how disgruntled Talib really is. He definitely seems to be happy about the season-plus with the Pats.

“I loved my time there,” Talib told King. “I loved playing for Bill. He’s a great leader. I’ll be able to tell my kids I played for Bill Belichick someday and I was Tom Brady’s teammate. Really, it’s just a dream I’m experiencing, when two great organizations want you like this.”

If Talib is willing to take shots publicly at the team’s injury reporting habits when he’s happy to have been there, we’d hate to see what he’d say if he really was upset.

I thought the Talib deal was the one overpay Elway made but even then that stance was softened a bit when it was revealed that its mainly a 3 year $27 mil deal, still def some risk there although if he can stay healthy its a game changer.

All in all though, I have to respect Elway for this all-in approach he’s taking. Sure he’s taking a risk but it also has high reward, he’s frontloaded most of these deals to reduce risk, and if not for his aim-high approach he wouldn’t have landed Manning in the first place, so why change the way you’ve done business if its been successful for you, albeit in a relatively short period.

The cheating spygate/injurygate nation was being cheap like usual.Why go to the donkeys who get blown out in superbowls.Should’ve came to the vikings and have the best defensive mastermind in the league,mike zimmer.our franchise is on the rise.SKOL

Is Tom Curran a dr? If they were the same part then it wouldnt be an issue but you would certainly think someone who is trained in that field would be able to know the difference. So either the pats are lying or their team dr doesn’t know his anatomy. Either way you can expect shady things from this organization.

Curran’s argument that the “hip and quad are connected so it’s the same thing” is silly. My elbow and forearm are connected, but when I hurt my elbow I don’t go around telling people I hurt my forearm. — they would think I was crazy Unless of course I was trying to mislead people or play games. That’s all that’s going on here — the Pats are trying to justify what everyone else sees as a blatant lie and they’re using Curran as their mouthpiece.

It’s a shame it didn’t work out contract-wise with Talib here. He really made sure to stay in line and became a valuable leader on the defense. Great that Revis is replacing him, but Talib gave a great year and a half. Hopefully he does well for Denver (except against the Patriots)

what because it was a little less money? this kid is going to be another Haynesworth story of one who doesn’t produce for the money. 26 million guaranteed on a 57 million dollar contract? this punk will already be getting his money, and will slack off. good luck to you Denver after he limps off the field every first quarter! owww my hip! owww my quad! pathetic.

How do Pats fans sleep at night knowing that they root for a team that has a long, proven track record of cheating in order to win? Shameful, man. History will take note of the asterisks next to your wins.

To everyone saying that Denver is going to have a lot of salary cap problems: They had $28 million at the start of free agency. They released Champ and Kuper retired, leaving them with $42 million. After all the transactions were completed they still have $5 million dollars of cap room. A lot of their best players are still on their rookie contracts( e.g Von Miller, Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas) Manning and Ware will be retired in the next few years, so that’s roughly $30 million freed up. In addition, it is widely speculated that the cap will increase in the upcoming years as well.

A quad and a hip are not the same area. Close maybe, but closeness is relative term and matter of perspective. One is a bone joint and the other is a muscle group. These are completely different parts of the human anatomy.

Keep saying it was your quad Talib when the video clearly show you grabbing your hip… Not having language in the contract to protect themselves would be bad business. Talib’s job is to play 16 plus games and stay out of trouble, if he does so that language means nothing. The fact is the Pats took a chance on a troubled player that benefited both the player and the team (except when the player couldn’t stay on the field in the two biggest games of his career). Had Talib stayed in Tampa, he would have never came close to this contract. Odds are better he would have had more off the field issues and ended up out of the league. So thank the Pats and move on Talib, be grateful.

Hey Talib,, The shaky part is they don’t feel like paying you for getting hurt in every important game you ‘ve played since being with the patriots.. And Oh yea that time you fell pretty hard on your hip and missed 3 or 4 weeks.. That injury last a lot longer than that.. So don’t try to tell everyone your hip was fine when every time you got hurt that’s where your hands went .. NOT for friggin knees or your thighs.. Your kind of shaky if you ask me…